International Fair

This year’s 6th grade International Fair will focus on nations with significant Muslim populations. Your team will work together to learn about the culture of your assigned nation. Each team will then make a multi-faceted presentation of what they learn and discover together to their classmates, parents, and friends.

Working on this project will help you to learn about the geography, government, customs, cultural elements, and history of your assigned nation. Student groups are expected to prepare an attractive and informative display about their assigned nation (including an area where visitors can sample four or five simple dishes from the culture), and to present a cultural presentation including elements such as music, dance, poetry, story-telling, ceremonies, games, etc.


Project Requirements --
1) General Poster – Map, Flag, Climate, System of government, Currency, Leader, Current events

2) Historical Timeline – Drawn to scale and illustrated. Timelines should display at least 10 important events in the history of your country. Five of these events must be illustrated.

3) Travel Guide Brochure – Places to visit, Usual weather, Tips for travelers, Special events

4) Biographical Poster of famous Muslim (required – one from each group member)
Scientist, Scholar, Artist, Poet, Musician, Architect, Leader, Athlete, Author, Doctor, Explorer, etc.  Find someone who is interesting to you.  Maybe you would like to find someone who is a woman, or from a particular racial group, or disabled.  You are encouraged to browse through the lists to choose your person. 

Include – Date and place of birth, family, education, accomplishments, portrait, fun or interesting facts

5) Food Items from the country (one required from each group member) – Your food item must be able to be served cold or at room temperature. We will have no facility for heating or reheating dishes, so choose your food item carefully. Desserts, salads, breads, dips or spreads, and appetizer-style items work best. Whatever you decide to bring, it should serve at least 6. Bring your item to school the morning of the International festival in a container that is clearly marked with your name. Attach any necessary directions for serving the item to the container. You must provide a neatly typed copy of the recipe, and you should bring any required serving items (plates, bowls, cups, spoons, etc.)

6) Group Presentation – Each group will be required to make a cultural presentation about their country. Your presentation should be well organized and carefully practiced. It should last 3-5 minutes. Group members should dress in the caftans that we will make in class. Material for the presentation may include any two of the following:

Summary and Description of Interview with Muslim Visitor
Poem
Prayer
Song
Dance
Story or Folktale
Dramatic scene
Informative presentation about your country's history and traditions
Game
Demonstration: craft, celebration, ceremony, ritual, etc.
Other (with teacher approval)

Resources –
Every effort will be made to connect students with a Muslim visitor from the country that they are studying. However, it is important to remember that these are volunteers who generously give of their time in order to facilitate this project. There is no guarantee that every group will have the opportunity to visit personally with a member of our local Muslim community.  Some of our visitors cannot be at school during the regular school day, in these cases, students will be asked to stay after school or return to school to meet their guest.

General Information --
CIA World Factbook
Famous People by Nationality
Islamic Studies Topics
Stories, Fables, Folk Tales for kids
Poems for Children
History for Kids
Classical Islamic Poetry

Links for Dances --


Traditional Iranian Dance

Traditional Egyptian Dance
Traditional Moroccan Dance
Traditional South African Dance
Traditional Chinese/Taiwanese Dance
Traditional Palestinian Dance
Traditional Bosnian Dance
Traditional Mauritanian Dance